selise @ 58

i don’t remember anyone complaining that cindy sheehan and friends had no right to be camping beside the road to bush’s home in crawford tx, on the off chance they could protest as president bush drove by.

The difference is probably that Bush’s spread is large enough to get lost in, whereas Pelosi lives in town. Bush could avoid Camp Cindy by helicoptering in or taking ATVs or Hummers overland. Pelosi doesn’t have that option.

Then again, both are public figures.

I can see both sides of this angle.

fair enough… your’re right, there was a difference in distance (which is a big difference – outa sight, outa mind).

still, when i look at the pictures of the code pink protesters outside speaker pelosi’s house, they aren’t in her yard (or even near a neighbor’s house). it looks (to me) like a protest – not harassment.

if speaker pelosi had a small child, (or someone who couldn’t understand and would feel threatened or scared) then i’d think differently.

i think that being a public figure matters a very little bit. what really matters to me is that she (and bush) are:

1) elected representatives
2) adults
3) it’s a peaceful protest and not harrassment.

i do think it’s possilby a bit different for a private citizen, and lot different for a child and/or there is harrasment.

“The war has eclipsed everything. And while I am very proud of the ratings that Democrats have on every issue you can name, I don’t disagree with the public evaluation that we have not done well in ending this war,” she said.

Pelosi stressed the differing roles of antiwar activists and congressional leaders. “We have to make responsible decisions in the Congress that are not driven by the dissatisfaction of anybody who wants the war to end tomorrow. God bless them for their passion on this issue. I believe that mostly they are right. But I do believe that we are responsible [for] a … safe redeployment of our troops out of Iraq and that is what we will continue to fight for.”

i don’t remember anyone complaining that cindy sheehan and friends had no right to be camping beside the road to bush’s home in crawford tx, on the off chance they could protest as president bush drove by.

The difference is probably that Bush’s spread is large enough to get lost in, whereas Pelosi lives in town. Bush could avoid Camp Cindy by helicoptering in or taking ATVs or Hummers overland. Pelosi doesn’t have that option.

Then again, both are public figures.

I can see both sides of this angle.

Everyone’s home is off limits. I strongly believe in a zone of privacy with regard to children and homes. This is the morally right position for us to take.

It is equally egregious to interfere with the privacy of the family of the sick children in Baltimore and the family of the Speaker. Whether the protesters outside the house are from the left or the right I condemn them.

Let there be some small shred of personal existence as we move into the era of Big Brother, Total Information Awareness, all datamining all the time. Preserve the small space around our loved ones and our homes, that’s all I’m asking.

jeeze egr. if you want to convince me i’m wrong, could you give me more of an argument other than to condemn me and imply i’m immoral?

It is equally egregious to interfere with the privacy of the family of the sick children in Baltimore and the family of the Speaker. Whether the protesters outside the house are from the left or the right I condemn them.

Let there be some small shred of personal existence as we move into the era of Big Brother, Total Information Awareness, all datamining all the time. Preserve the small space around our loved ones and our homes, that’s all I’m asking.

It seems to me that if Pelosi will not meet with the people she represents, will not give them her schedule so they can know where she will be so they can protest somewhere other than her home, than this is what she gets. If she doesn’t like it, she can get a different job. Or at least do the job she was hired to do. And that is represent the people. How can she do that if she won’t even talk to the people?

So I have no problem with these protesters. Tell Nancy to schedule a meeting with them somewhere and then actually show up and I would be willing to bet they would then move away from her home. If she would than actually act on their suggestions from the meeting.

Sheesh Nancy. Just do your damn job.

I am well aware that the other side sees almost no limits at all. I even feel like the Democratic party has an obligation to procide that Baltimore family with 24×7 armed protection if they want it (now that their address is out on the Right blogs) and Rush has stirred the loony bin.

But none of that means that we should not draw a line at defensive measures and stay away from even fairly modest intrusiveness.

I am guessing, since our beloved speaker is third in line to head the government, that this might apply to her.

Now I suppose that we might feel sorry that, in an age of hurricane-fenced corrals for “free speech” Madam Speaker does not rate her own private Secret Service thugs to keep away the riff-raff, but that’s life in the (self-imposed) minority.